Distribution of common vole (Microtus arvalis (Pallas, 1778), Rodentia, Cricetidae, Arvicolinae) in West Siberia
A. A. KISLYI1,2, Yu. S. RAVKIN2, V. P. STARIKOV3
1Omsk State Pedagogical University, Omsk, Russia
2Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals of SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
3Surgut State University, Surgut, Russia
Keywords: Microtus arvalis, West Siberia, Altai Mountains, spatial distribution, abundance, environmental factors
Abstract
Based on materials gathered during late summer periods from 1954 to 2016 across the plains and mountains of West Siberia, we analyzed the zonation and provincial aspects of common vole (Microtus arvalis) distribution. Overall, the species is abundant throughout the region. On the West Siberian Plain, it prefers open and often cultivated habitats. In the forest-steppe zone, especially in steppe landscapes where its numbers peak, it shows preference towards partially flooded and swampy biotopes. Across the mountainous territories of West Siberia, Microtus arvalis predominantly inhabits open and less frequently mosaic lowland biotopes, particularly in agricultural lands and urbanized environments. Cluster analysis of abundance coefficients resulted in five categories of habitat suitability: optimal, sub-optimal, sub-pessimistic, pessimistic, and extreme (where the species was not detected). This classification established correlations between spatial heterogeneity of species abundance and environmental factors and their combinations (modes). For the common vole, three groups of environmental gradients can be distinguished related to its spatial distribution: thermo-hydrological conditions (including variations in heat and moisture ratios within different zones and provinces); vegetation-related gradients (vegetation type, degree of woodedness, tree composition); and local impact factors (agricultural land use, wetlands, floods, human settlement presence).
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